Case Studies

Gerelateerd nieuws

Smartmatic presents next generation online voting system to enfranchise expatriates in Romania

United Kingdom, London – February 10, 2019 - “Around the world there is growing interest in the possibility to enfranchise voters who live abroad via online voting. Traditional methods to vote remotely have proven inefficient time and again. It is encouraging to see momentum building in Romania to make elections more inclusive, secure and transparent,” said Mike Summers, Online Voting Program Director for Smartmatic, during the Conference on Administrative and Security Challenges of Internet Voting.

The conference, held in Romania on February 7, gathered election experts, politicians, members of civil society and other stakeholders to discuss the best way to implement technology solutions to organize secure, inclusive and transparent elections.

Legislation for online voting in Romania is currently in the draft stage and experts believe the adoption of online voting could enfranchise the millions of Romanians living abroad.

Whether in Europe, Asia or any other continent, voters are consistently demanding better and more convenient ways to participate in democracy. According to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, since 2004 the number of Americans who voted early, or sent an absentee or mail-in ballot has increased from some 25 million to 57 million in 2016. The number of early voters has tripled from 10.2 million in 2004 to 35 million in 2018. “The message is clear. It is time to modernize election processes with the best technology available,” added Summers.

In 2014, Smartmatic partnered with Cybernetica, the R&D lab responsible for developing Estonia’s online voting system, to cofound the Smartmatic-Cybernetica Centre of Excellence for Internet Voting. The system developed by this joint venture was successfully implemented in Estonia in 2017 and will once again be used in the upcoming European Parliamentary elections later in 2019.